Key Takeaways
- • AkademikerPension, the Danish pension fund for academics managing $25 billion, has excluded SpaceX from its investible universe, banning the fund and its external asset managers from investing in the company, according to a statement from the fund.
- • CIO Anders Schelde said he finds it "extremely difficult to justify a market valuation above $1 trillion" and believes the stock is at least 80% overvalued for long-term investors at the reportedly discussed $1.8 trillion valuation.
- • The exclusion cites SpaceX's dual-share-class structure, which per the prospectus gives Elon Musk 85.1% of voting power, which Schelde called a "catastrophic governance structure."
- • SpaceX is reportedly targeting a $1.8 trillion valuation and aims to raise approximately $75 billion in its IPO, expected to price June 12.
Summary
AkademikerPension, the Danish pension fund for the country's academics, announced that it is excluding Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) from its investible universe, prohibiting both the fund and its external asset managers from investing in the company. The fund cited concerns about the aerospace company's valuation and share-class structure ahead of its initial public offering, which was filed last week. According to reports, SpaceX is targeting a $1.8 trillion valuation, a reduction from the hoped-for $2 trillion, and aims to raise approximately $75 billion in the offering. The company is expected to go public on June 12.
In a statement, CIO Anders Schelde said SpaceX does not make sense as an investment for a long-term institutional investor. "We find it extremely difficult to justify a market valuation above $1 trillion," he said, adding that at valuations of up to $1.8 trillion, "the stock is at least 80 percent overvalued for long-term investors like us." He argued that investors are being asked to accept an "unprecedentedly low risk premium for a highly uncertain company, where pricing appears to be driven more by [Founder] Elon Musk's narratives than by economic realities." The IPO is expected to produce a substantial windfall for early backers and employees; a 2019 funding round valued SpaceX at $33.9 billion. Notable existing backers include Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price, Alphabet, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the Washington University in St. Louis endowment, and Humain, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
The fund's governance objection centers on SpaceX's dual-share-class structure. According to the prospectus, Musk will own 12.3% of Class A shares, which carry one vote per share, and 93.6% of Class B shares, which carry 10 votes per share, giving him a combined 85.1% of voting power. Schelde said the structure would prevent the board from exercising meaningful oversight. The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the New York City Comptroller's office have also criticized the governance structure in a joint letter to SpaceX executives. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said public investors are being asked to fund "the most management-favorable and extreme governance structure ever brought to the U.S. markets at this scale."
AkademikerPension previously excluded Tesla, also led by Musk, in 2025 over its clashes with labor unions in Europe, and earlier this year fully divested from U.S. Treasurys over concerns about U.S. public finances. The fund manages $25 billion in assets. Schelde acknowledged the exclusion may create short-term return deviations relative to the market and industry peers, stating, "that is a risk we are perfectly willing to accept. We are long-term investors."
In a statement, CIO Anders Schelde said SpaceX does not make sense as an investment for a long-term institutional investor. "We find it extremely difficult to justify a market valuation above $1 trillion," he said, adding that at valuations of up to $1.8 trillion, "the stock is at least 80 percent overvalued for long-term investors like us." He argued that investors are being asked to accept an "unprecedentedly low risk premium for a highly uncertain company, where pricing appears to be driven more by [Founder] Elon Musk's narratives than by economic realities." The IPO is expected to produce a substantial windfall for early backers and employees; a 2019 funding round valued SpaceX at $33.9 billion. Notable existing backers include Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price, Alphabet, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the Washington University in St. Louis endowment, and Humain, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.
The fund's governance objection centers on SpaceX's dual-share-class structure. According to the prospectus, Musk will own 12.3% of Class A shares, which carry one vote per share, and 93.6% of Class B shares, which carry 10 votes per share, giving him a combined 85.1% of voting power. Schelde said the structure would prevent the board from exercising meaningful oversight. The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the New York City Comptroller's office have also criticized the governance structure in a joint letter to SpaceX executives. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said public investors are being asked to fund "the most management-favorable and extreme governance structure ever brought to the U.S. markets at this scale."
AkademikerPension previously excluded Tesla, also led by Musk, in 2025 over its clashes with labor unions in Europe, and earlier this year fully divested from U.S. Treasurys over concerns about U.S. public finances. The fund manages $25 billion in assets. Schelde acknowledged the exclusion may create short-term return deviations relative to the market and industry peers, stating, "that is a risk we are perfectly willing to accept. We are long-term investors."
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